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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Jan. 17, 1980)
Slouch by Jim Earle “WITH GOLD OUT OF SIGHT, SILVER ON ITS WAY, COPPER CAN’T RE FAR REHIND. BUT I’M GETTING READY FOR THE NEXT BOOM — IRON!” Opinion Cold War goes on Around the world there is gloom lest the “Cold War” be revived in the wake of Afghanistan. There are solemn warnings against “Cold War rhetoric” and “Cold War reactions,” as if the main danger to the world lay in those two words. But there is a lot to be said for the Cold War. A lot more than can be said for “detente,” for instance. In international relations, it is important to see things as they really are. Detente is a word and a concept that masked the reality. Cold War, for all its harshness, is closer to the mark. Consider what happened under detente. The Soviet Union clinched its victory in Vietnam, got a stranglehold on Ethiopia, took over Angola with the help of its Cuban myrmidons, infiltrated South Yemen, backed terrorism in various forms on three continents, squashed its dissidents, installed new nuclear-tipped missiles in Eastern Europe and aimed at Western Europe, tried to topple the govern ment of Saudi Arabia, sustained the biggest buildup in arms history, and finally invaded Afghanistan... in the most brutal conquest since Adolph Hitler. During all that, our government bravely tried to find reasons to believe that tensions were lessening and that the Soviets had abandoned their expansionist goals. Afghanis tan has killed that illusion. There is no room in the Marxist dogma for such things as “peaceful coexistence, ” “detente, ” or international cooper ation as we understand the terms. Those are mere prop aganda devices to lull the naive. As it was in the beginning, is now and shall ever be. Marxism by definition means a permanent Cold War with the free world until the free world is conquered. It’s best to recognize the truth, unlovely as it may be . . . Worchester, Mass., Telegram the small society by Brickman Viewpoint The Battalion U S P S 045 360 LETTERS POLICY MEMBER Letters to the editor should not exceed 300 words and are Texas Press Association subject to being cut to that length or less if longer. The Southwest Journalism Congress editorial staff reserves the right to edit such letters and does * Editor Roy Bragg not guarantee to publish any lettt'r. Each letter must be . . --.j. t/- ..i rr-. i signed, show the address of the writer and list a telephone Associate Editor Keith Taylor number for verification. News Editor Rusty Cawley Address correspondence to U tters to the Editor. The Asst. News Editor Karen Comelison BottaU^ Room 216 Reed McDonald Building. College c Ed Dillard Stone Station, Texas 77843. ^ n Represented nationally by National Educational Adver- S P° rtS E a. it0r Tony Gallucci tising Services. Inc., New York City, Chicago and Los FoCUS Editor Rhonda Watters Angeles. • ' Senior City Reporter Louie Arthur Senior Campus Reporter Diane Blake The Battalion is published Monday through Friday from General Assignment Reporters September through May except during exam and holiday Richard Oliver and Andy Williams Periods and the summer, when it is published on Tuesday hrough Thursday. Staff Writers Nancy Andersen, .. , , Tricia Brunhart, Mike Burrichter, Mail subscriptions are $16.75 per semester; $33.25 per . I. ^ ijr a. schtx)l year; $35.00 per hill year. Advertising rates furnished * AngdlCJlie Lopeland, Laura Lort0Z, on request. Address. The Battalion. Room 216, Reed Meril Edwards, Carol Hancock, McDonald Building. College Station. Texas 77S43 Kathleen McElroy, Debbie Nelson, United Press International is entitled exclusively to the Steve Sisney, Robin Thompson use for reproduction of all news dispatches credited to it. Chief Photographer Lynn BlanCO Rights of reproduction of all other matter herein reserved. , t n r i Second-Class postage paid at College Station tx 77«43. Photographers Lee Roy Leschper, Sam Stroder Opinions expressed in The Battalion are Regents. The Battalion is a non-profit, self- those of the editor or of the writer of the supporting enterprise operated by students article and are not necessarily those of the as a university and community newspaper. University administration or the Board of Editorial policy is determined by the editor. The Battalion Texas A&M University Thursday January 17, 1980 Congressional intervention unnecessary in clinic case I T' Vl tpl tnulit l&M t ani United Press International Virginia’s health commissioner recently approved establishment of the nation’s first test tube baby clinic at Eastern Virginia Medical School in Norfolk and immediately ran into opposition from groups concerned about the moral impli cations of the move. That opposition was not unexpected, given the conservative nature of the state and the very real questions of medicine, morality, legality and merit posed by this new avenue of Science. What was unexpected was a press re lease from Sen. Orrin Hatch, R-Utah — issued the same as the news story report ing Commissioner James Kenley’s deci sion — suggesting that Congress leap into the controversy. Hatch threatened to in troduce legislation to postpone the open ing of the Norfolk clinic and similar cen ters until “proper hearings have been held on the federal level.” “It’s too great an issue to let pass with out debate,” said Hatch, a conservative Mormon and father of six. “The religious, ethical, moral and legal questions make such reasoned discussion necessary and imperative. ” On that, few could disagree. But the real question is whether Congress is capa ble of providing the “reasoned discussion” Hatch is seeking. Congress consists of 435 House mem bers and 100 senators. It’s heavy on lawyers but light on women, scientists and medical doctors. The 535 members of Congress do share a common characteris tic: all are politicians. And many people believe politics has no place in a debate of this kind. Dr. Mason Andrews, chief of the Virginia school’s department of obstetrics and gynecology, called artificial fertiliza tion “an important frontier” and pointed out that more than 40 couples from around the United States have already been ac cepted as patients. These people and countless other child less couples no doubt have had lengthy discussions on the merits of artificial fer tilization, probably starting with the birth 18 months ago of “test tube baby Louise Brown in England. The Virginia school has estimated that at least 280,000 women in the United States have blocked Fallopian tubes which makes standard childbirth impossible. It would be difficult to convince them that a politi cian is lietter qualified than theyto whether artificial fertilization isj,i option. Opponents talk of “playing Codj netic experimentation and the prosj a “Brave New World philosophy Obviously, the two extremes muj|| weighed one against the other, andiij sion reached that will allow the I without the dangers. It is a questiJ considerable depth that will reqiM best scientific, medical and relijj minds. One needs look no further thaij abortion issue to conclude that may not be the place to find the a For years, abortion, a profoundly pra issue, has become a political Congress, and the result has sali! neither side. u A ITOBf 8 Letters U.S. indebted to Shah; critics can go horn fall Editor: It seems funny to me that the Society of Iranian Students knows so much more about the Iranian crisis than we do. How ever, they forget a few facts that should be pointed out to them: — The Shah was a friend of the United States for 37 years and let the U.S. use his country to monitor Russian movement. — Under his rule, Iran prospered, gained new technology, profited from oil produc tion and built the most powerful navy in the Persian Gulf. This navy now lies rust ing in port. — The present leader, if you want to call him that, has set Iran back hundreds of years socially and economically. — There is no telling how many innocent people have died at the hand of Khomeini. And now, 50 innocent Americans lives are at stake. — The Iranians recently “pulled the plug” on American TV networks to prevent the world from seeing what is happening. With these things in mind, why don’t you keep this on your mind also: — This is the United States of America, and we love it. — If you are so against the U. S., and so happy with the Khomeini government. why don’t you get the hell out of here and go back to Iran? — The next time you have the urge to write a letter expressing your views, have the guts to sign your name to it. Steven A. Stewart (This letter was accompanied by 12 other signatures.) More ticket woes Editor: Football season is now over for this year, and I have nothing but praise for coach Tom Wilson and the Fighting Texas Aggie football team. However, I do have a gripe with the Aggie ticket office. My gripe deals with the purchase of a single, non-student date ticket for a football game. It costs an Aggie $9.25 to buy such a ticket ($4.25 for the coupon from your ticket book and $5.00 for the right to take a non-student) and yet the non-student sticker states that the price is $8.50. I called the ticket office about this and they told me that I could avoid this by purchas ing a season date ticket book for $34.00. Hey, I only needed a ticket for one game. Writing the editor ' The Battalion welcomes letters to characters in length. the editor on any subject. However, V Be neatly typed whene ver pos- to be acceptable for publication these sible. Hand-written letters are ac- letters must meet certain criteria. ceptable. >/ Include the author’s name, ad- They should: dress and telephone number for ver- Not exceed 300 words or 1800 ification. What am I supposed to do, spend alot my time and try to sell the others? Why does it cost more foronegaiw’ it because I m taking a seat away fill Aggie? No, because I have to find son [ eva one not going to the game and get s , s coupon Ixxik. The answer the ticketofff^ n gave me is that the 75c extra is a ‘ sen* ^ charge for the extra Ixioking and vart other work. Do they mean to tellraell i it costs more for them to sell me as® sticker to put on my ticket than it does print up special coupon books and set#| special time to sell them. I don’t see In® ) could. I really see the extra charge “legalized” scalping by the University,) it angers me that it costs more for i« get a ticket for my date than it does “John Doe” from Austin (or wherever! buy a ticket for himself. I doubt very! riously if an extra 75c is going to many of us, but it is actions suchastl* i that cause otherwise honest students / borrow I. D. s and slip a non-student inf football game. The person I talked) the ticket office told me that the shn Senate has some voice in matters sucl this. I hope that the Senate might 6 time to discuss this matter. I David Cardwell ^